We took out SUV in for a routine oil change last week. We mentioned that the brake light was intermittently coming on and that we probably needed a little brake fluid added. Kevin worked from the Monroe we get our work done at while he waited for them to drop the bomb…

The car needs all new brakes and rotors. On every wheel.

But don’t worry, it will only cost you a mere $900!!!!! Ummm… WHAT!!!! After I hyperventilated at work, I told Kevin to finish the oil change and we will call pappy, who was a mechanic and see what he things, as I was 110% positive we really didn’t need the work done.

Long story short, Pappy said the brakes were actually worse than what Monroe told us and they needed done immediately, along with new rotors. G-R-E-A-T. So Saturday was spend shopping for auto parts (instead of shopping for new boots like I would have rather been doing). Thankfully, the $250 I spent was no where near what Monroe was going to charge us, but it was still a tough blow at Christmas.

I was pretty down in the dumps as this means that Kevin and I will not get to exchange gifts this year. I already had Lily finished so the big stuff was done, but this was going to be the first year since we got married where we were actually going to exchange! I budgeted and saved for this, and I was downright bummed about it.

Then I stopped and really thought about it. Sure, there were things that I wanted (like the final season of 7th Heaven on DVD) that I wouldn’t buy myself because that money could go toward something we really needed, but there is nothing we really need! And on top of it all, we are leaving for Disney two weeks after Christmas! I have nothing to be sad about!! In fact, we are blessed that it happened this year, because if this was a year ago we wouldn’t have gotten new brakes, there would be no way we could have afforded it! So I worked really hard to turn a not-so-awesome thing into a good thing!

And Kevin and I still get to “exchange” gifts — I got him new brakes and he got me our tickets for Disney!

Today started the holiday season for me — the day certain radio stations change to all Christmas music!

Now I know some of you out there think it is just too early for the holiday music, but truth be told, I could listen to Christmas music year round! I got a lot of rude comments and eye rolls at work today, but honestly everyone loves it. My boss was in a terrible mood today, but when she came in my office, she couldn’t help but feel more cheery! Ahh let the season begin! I can’t wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put up the tree!

Anyway, I was thinking about the holidays and how many of the holiday songs remind me of places I have worked and send waves of memories of different times in my life. One of my favorite holiday seasons was 2003 when I worked seasonal at Victoria’s Secret Beauty (they were two different companies back then!) in the mall.

So many of my friends hate the mall and hate holidays in the mall. I LOVED it! I loved everything about it — the fun, the hustle and bustle, the gift selecting — all of it! Black Friday was my favorite day to work! I preferred the earliest shift possible. Everyone brought food and the back room was a pot luck all day long. Shopping was crazy, but since we were already in the mall, we would take turns running to the different sales on our breaks. It was an “all hands on deck” kind of day and it was so much fun! I worked with some of the best people there!

When I hear people saying they are looking for a part-time job I instantly think they should go spread holiday cheer in retail! If I ever get to be a stay-at-home mom, you better believe I will earn our holiday gift money at the mall (preferably the Disney store this time around! hehe)

And now I leave you with a little holiday music for your evening. This song played about every hour at VS back in the day and I can still picture me and my friend Ashley singing it on the sales floor!

I read an article the other day on Dave Ramsey’s site about how Facebook can be a horrible thing for someone who is trying to pay off debt and/or save money.

This article was written specifically for me, I swear. To recap, it basically talks about taking “keeping up with the Jones'” to the next level – the Facebook brag. Because, come on, who doesn’t want to put their awesome new house, new kid or new shoes on Facebook for everyone to like and comment on.

I sometimes struggle with this feeling that people have it all together on Facebook when they are showing pictures of their new $300K home, fantastic vacation or brand new car. I can’t tell you how many times in the past year we would consider ourselves “struggling to get by.” This is when I get the green monster the most… when there is nothing I can do to help our situation and I see our friends having it all.

Now that we are finally in a good place with paying off debt and saving money, I can look back and laugh because those people I envied so much don’t have it all either. They may have a beautiful brand new house, awesome new job or fantastic vacation, but there are things they struggle with too. They just (obviously) aren’t posting THAT stuff on Facebook.

As we get closer to our target date to buy a house, March 2014, I have been looking online at what is on the market and what each area has to offer. I can tell you that we have a teeny tiny budget for the area we are going to live in and that whatever we buy will probably need some work done to be “Facebook” ready. It is again very hard for me to not want a big, beautiful brand-new, custom-built home but I know that is not our reality at this point in our lives. I am working hard to be happy with what we can get!

Here are some tips on how I fight the envy and bring myself back to my own reality. Note: this does NOT include taking a look at my bank account, which will only depress me more!

1. Spend some time on Pinterest and check out what kind of inexpensive renovations can be done in older homes to get your dream kitchens, bathrooms, etc.

2. Look at how close you are to paying off your vehicle and think about what you can do with that extra $350/month!

3. Re-arrange and clean up a room in my own house, putting up new pictures or decorations… something fresh

4. Sort through and take clothes and other unwanted household items to Goodwill. This one seems a little crazy, but clearing out clutter is good for the soul and I always feel better when I am taking things to donate to others.

5. Start a DIY project for Lily. Currently I am working on making an apron for her for Christmas along with a few other DIY gifts for other people. This will make you feel accomplished and happy and fight the urge to spend money!

I have seen many people fall into the Jones’ trap and it ends poorly every time, with bad credit, tons of debt and even shady ways to keep things going. It took me a really long time to come to terms with “living within our means,” but I can finally see the big picture and I look forward to the days where I can say that we put half our paycheck into savings for that “rainy day”… or more likely for that Disney vacation!

As Halloween draws near, I get more and more anxious for… Christmas! Yes, I totally know how ridiculous that sounds, but hear me out. I am a planner. like I started thinking about Christmas in April. Not. Even. Joking.

In my defense, we are really budgeted to the max. I made the (bad) decision of planning a vacation the week after Christmas, which happens to be our anniversary, but we are also trying to buy a house by March so we are stretched totally thin. Thinner than thin… we are completely see through. But I know I can make it all work.

This year I really wanted to go all out for Lily since she is really starting to play and understand. I want to do the whole decorate the whole house, get really into Santa, write a letter to him and everything. I know she is only one, but I really think she gets it (or I will tell myself that she does because I get so excited!)

So in getting everything done, paying off our vacation and paying off debt to buy a house, I really had to start early. I am making a good deal of the presents, which is great because they are costing very little money. But I plan to get Lily a kitchen set this year with all the trimmings. Anyone who has bought their child or any child a kitchen knows how ridiculously expensive they are! Does she necessarily NEED it this year, absolutely not, but I look at it as one of those investment pieces where Lily and all of our future children will be playing with it for years and years to come.

I am working my butt off to get as many Swagbucks and Ebates rewards as I possibly can to use toward that kitchen set so I can get an amazing deal on it and not feel bad about blowing a ton of money on a toy.

Other things on Lily’s list this year are:

The Little Mermaid DVD, an apron (I’m making), a dress for Disney (also making), a lot of clothes from the Children’s place that I already bought that include cable knit tights, a skirt, a hoodie, a long-sleeved tee shirt and two pair of flippers for next year, a personalized Ariel blanket, food for said kitchen set and a scarf since Lily loves to wrap Kevin’s socks around her as a scarf. And of course her yearly ornament. Whew.

I was going to make this week’s post about the amazing meatballs I made this week, but since I got the flu shortly after (not related to the food just a fluke but enough to make me not want to think about a meatball for awhile) and the fact that I needed something quick for my family since I was out for the count, I thought I would leave you with the perfect pulled pork.

One of my big tips for shopping is to always buy on sale. This goes for meat too. I got a 2.5 lb pork shoulder for $6.57 because it was the day before the sell by date. Well for me, that date means very little because I freeze pretty much all of my meat when I get done shopping, unless I am eating it that day. Since it’s going in the freezer, I always, always buy the marked down meat because it is still fresh, they just are running out of time to sell it on their floor.

Anyway, I realized that being in bed for two straight days, I had nothing to make my family for dinner and for the big Steelers vs. Ravens game! I knew Kevin wouldn’t be getting up during that game, so it needed to be something easy and flexible, but I didn’t defrost anything. I quickly googled to see what I could make and I found out that I could make a pork roast in the crock pot EVEN IF IT’s STILL FROZEN! OMG how have I not known this before! Do you understand how much money in take out this could have saved me!

So I grabbed my little frozen porker and threw him in the crock pot on high with water just covering the top. At about hour 4.5 I switched it to low because I noticed it was already falling apart and we were no where near ready to eat! Once we were ready, I strained the roast, discarded the water, pulled the pork and then tossed in my BBQ sauce. I was able to score some Emeril’s BBQ Bam sauce at the store on sale for $0.50! My husband claims it is by far the best pulled pork I have ever made!

I made two quick baked potatoes and steamed some quick vegetables and we had a nice little dinner that cost me under $10! Now what can be better than that — oh yeah, enough to take for lunch tomorrow too! 🙂

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